surfeit

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   An excessive amount of something.

   A surfeit of wheat is driving down the price.

2. 2
   noun

   A sickness or condition caused by overindulgence.

   King Henry I is said to have died of a surfeit of lampreys.

3. 3
   verb

   To fill (something) to excess.

   You are three men of sin, whom Destiny, That hath to instrument this lower world And what is in’t,—the never-surfeited sea Hath caused to belch up you;.

4. 4
   verb

   To feed (someone) to excess (on, upon or with something).

   She surfeited her children on sweets.

From Middle English surfeite, surfet, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman surfet, surfeit and Old French sorfet, sorfait, past participle of surfaire (“to augment, exaggerate, exceed”), from sur- (“over”) + faire (“to do”). The adjective is derived from the noun.

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary